I recently received a question from reader Rippy about what size cartridge converter will fit into the Kaweco Student fountain pen. He specifically asked if the Faber-Castell or Schmidt converters will fit. As I have neither converter in-house and when I googled, there were several versions listed, I thought I would provide a visual guide to help in selecting a converter for the Kaweco Student.
I photographed the Kaweco Student on my cutting mat with 1″ grid marks with a few converters shown for size. The Kaweco Student will need a converter that has the same small diameter end as the small European cartridges (shown on the far right). I use a generic twist converter that I purchased at the local pen shop — it has no brand markings on it and cost me about $5 (in the photo, it is the unit attached to the pen nib).With additional hunting, it looks like the Monteverde mini converter available at Goulet Pens for $2.50 (I got robbed!) Goulet includes a photo of the Monteverde Mini next to the Schmidt converter for size comparison. The Schmidt looks like it might be a bit too long.
To the left of the pen is the Lamy converter which is almost 3″ in length and, if the end actually fit, would just barely fit in the barrel. A lot of the converters I found online were 3″ or thereabouts and I’m thinking they may be a bit too long for the Kaweco Student model.
Second to the left is the Pilot converter which uses the ink bladder filling mechanism and measures about 2.25″ in length. Again, if the end actually fit (which it doesn’t) the length would fit in the barrel.
My recommendation is if you have a Schmidt converter and purchase a Kaweco Student, try it out and let us know if it works. If not, I think investing $2.50 in the Monteverde Mini Converter is a great option. Best of luck and if anyone has experience with this combination, please leave a note in the comments. Thanks!
PS: Do you have a burning question about paper, notebooks, pens or inks you’d like the Ask The Desk? Drop me an email (chair@wellappointeddesk.com) or leave a comment below! Thanks for reading!
